Ever since Marvel produced a One-Shot short film picking up with Hayley Atwell's Agent Peggy Carter after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger, fans have been baying for a long-form spinoff featuring the character.

All that anticipation - plus the show's placing as Marvel's first female-fronted property - means there's a lot riding on Marvel's Agent Carter, so it's just as well that the series, which launched last night (January 6) in the US, is such bloody good fun.

We rejoin Peggy in New York, 1946 - Steve Rogers has been lost to the icy Arctic and the war is over, with the women who'd held society together whilst the men were away suddenly finding themselves deemed surplus to requirements.

Despite her heroism, Carter doesn't escape the sting of sexism. An independent woman in a time when it really wasn't fashionable to be one, she's forced on a daily basis to fight back against the boorish behaviour of her Boy's Club colleagues, including Shea Whigham's ignorant Roger Dooley and Chad Michael Murray's smug Jack Thompson.

Stuck manning the telephones, filing reports and making coffee, salvation arrives for Peggy in the form of Dominic Cooper's Howard Stark. Forced to go on the run after being accused of selling technology to enemy agents, the genius playboy first tasks his friend with finding out who framed him.

While it's a pity that Marvel's Agent Carter couldn't secure Cooper's services on a regular basis, Howard's disappearance helps set up a strong serialised / procedural balance on the show - with Peggy working each week to keep Stark's weapons off the streets, while at the same time delving deeper into the mystery of Leviathan.

Back in the spy game, Peggy quickly proves that a brief retirement hasn't dulled her edge - in one standout scene, her physical prowess is contrasted with a radio serial's portrayal of Captain America's girlfriend as a hapless heroine.

Carter also uses her sex appeal - though only in service of her mission, never to get ahead in her job - and even uses her co-workers' sexism to her advantage, with mention of 'ladies' problems' being enough to secure her 'sick leave' from a disgusted Dooley.

There's not much more that needs to be said about Hayley Atwell - she's ever bit as formidable here as we've come to expect, but these first two episodes do allow her more of an opportunity to showcase her comedic skills than Peggy's previous outings. Smart, funny, sexy and tough - this is a female hero that Marvel can, and should, be proud of.

Not all the men in Marvel's Agent Carter are sexist pigs though - Peggy shares a pleasingly platonic and respectful relationship with Howard Stark, while Enver Gjokaj's wounded war veteran Daniel Sousa who knows how it feels to be treated as a second class citizen and quickly becomes another ally.

Best of all though is James D'Arcy as Edwin Jarvis. A world away from his chilling Broadchurch baddie, D'Arcy's mild-mannered butler with a growing taste for spy work is an absolute scene stealer. But he's also more than comic relief, providing Peggy with invaluable support - both in the field and on an emotional level.

The biggest compliment I can pay Atwell and D'Arcy's brilliant rapport is that it frequently put me in mind of The Avengers - not the Marvel blockbuster but the classic '60s spy-fi series, if Emma Peel was the lead and John Steed was simply her aide. In fact, Marvel's Agent Carter feels so wonderfully stiff upper lip British that it's all the more baffling the show is yet to find a home in the UK.

The casting on the show is in fact uniformly superb - though some of the supporting characters feel a little one-dimensional at this early stage, every single part is filled out by a terrific actor, with James Frain, Lyndsy Fonseca and Andre Royo all impressing with limited material.

Also worthy of note is the series' production design - Marvel's Agent Carter is replete with gorgeous period detail, creating a recognisable past that's perhaps one step out of sync with the real world - evocative of Technicolor movies of the late '40s.

These first two episodes concern Peggy's hunt for a sci-fi super-bomb designed by Howard. The second instalment is is perhaps less spectacular than the pilot - at least until its final act - but it's also more confident in its own skin, dialling back on the nods to Steve Rogers (bar the aforementioned radio serial) and allowing Peggy to stand as - yes - an independent woman.

There's the odd piece of clunky exposition - even newcomers will click that Peggy's a capable agent not being given a fair shot way before she expounds at length on the topic to Fonseca's Angie - but for the most part this is a hugely confident debut for this colourful, hugely enjoyable spy caper.

Peggy's colleagues may continue to shun her in 1946, but I have a feeling viewers will happily embrace this super-spy in 2015.